Whatever floats your boat

Peter McMurrer would have loved it. The second annual Build Your Own Boat Regatta in his memory Sunday at Jetties Beach went off without a hitch.

Actually, there were quite a few hitches, but that was to be expected in an event more about friendly camaraderie, laughter and fun than it was about pure competition.

In fact, as Debba Pitcock, manager of the Rose & Crown bar and restaurant and one of the race organizers, said at the start of the race, “Rule number one is that there are no rules.”

That was immediately obvious, as the winning boat – two kayaks lashed together between two-by-fours – was in blatant violation of the “rule” prohibiting entries from containing parts scavenged from any legitimate boat.

But that didn’t dampen the spirits of the 30 or so participants and 100 or so spectators any more than did one of the competitors yanking down the swim trunks of another on their sprint to the water at the start of the race in a successful attempt to slow him down. McMurrer, who died in 2005 at 41, was an avid sailor who worked briefly for Nantucket Community Sailing, sharing his love of the water with children and adults alike. A fun-loving free spirit, he spent his winters in Vermont bartending and indulging in his other passion, skiing.

At his memorial service two years ago, Pitcock came up with the idea of holding a fundraiser in his name that truly epitomized his character, and the BYOB was born. And Sunday’s event – which raised about $3,000 for Nantucket Community Sailing and the Nantucket High School sailing team – lived up to its organizers’ desire that it be low-key and as much about McMurrer’s love of sailing as it was about his silly sense of humor. “It’s sort of apropos that they were able to come up with a benefit that’s focussed toward supporting the youth program for community sailing. I think Peter would’ve loved this,” said Nick Judson, executive director of Community Sailing. “You can’t take anything too seriously,” he added.

McMurrer’s sister Muffin Kurash agreed.

“It was a lot of fun and right up my brother’s alley,” she said. “The more duct tape the better. It was a great event. My sister and I and our husbands were there, and four of his neices and nephews. It’s a very special thing and a good fundraiser for the community. It’s something Peter would definitely have appreciated. The money wasn’t for anyone else. It stays here, and that means a lot to our family.”

Entries ran the gamut of their builders’ imaginations, as the vessels were cobbled together from cast off-plumbing parts, lumber and just about any other material that could float. One boat was simply a hot tub secured to a pair of black pontoons. Another entry put together by an off-island firefighter utilized two backboards lashed to plugged lengths of fire hose borrowed from the Nantucket Fire Department with shovels for oars.

Another boat had a lawn chair secured to foam insulation, and the second-place vessel – Team Ramshackle – was kept afloat by plastic two-liter soda jugs. Still another appeared to be bobbing along atop a plastic septic tank.

“I was especially pleased with the wide variety of entries this year,” Judson said. The thought process was great – The bread boat, some of the other ones – I was really psyched. It wasn’t really about winning the race. Winning was having fun and raising money. It’s a neat, fun, community, team-oriented event. It also gets a lot of people around our sailing center that might otherwise not be anywhere near it.”

One fantastic failure, which nevertheless earned big points for originality, was the Water Street restaurant entry, made entirely of fresh-baked bread wrapped in plastic bags. Unfortunately for its crew, it quickly became waterlogged and sank beneath the surface almost immediately.

They weren’t alone, however. Most of the crews spent more time in the water than they did on their vessels, but laughter and camaraderie were the order of the day, and many of the boats, while no doubt conceived and built by adults, were sailed by children. Safety was also a consideration, and the harbormaster vessel and volunteers from the fire department were on hand in case of emergency, and while they weren’t actually needed, they might have been.

Photo by Jim Powers

Adam Ceely, 14, of the S.S. Ramshackle team of Nantucket High School sailors.

The Rose & Crown entry, piloted by Christy Kickham and Audrey Farson, was almost blown out to sea when they couldn’t adjust their sail at the first mark. They decided instead to take it down and paddle to the finish, finishing dead last. They were, however, the only boat whose crew’s feet “never touched the sand,” Kickham said. The other entries were all either pulled or pushed at various stages of the race.

“We reached our goal. We never got off the boat,” Kickham said. “We did have a little sail trouble. We had trouble passing people due to the width of our outrigger,” he added with a laugh. “Overall, it was great. And it’s for a good cause.”at understanding can help us all to gather a little bit.”

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